Arrangement for the speedy drying of small amounts of linen



H.. WEBER March 21a, 1961 ARRANGEMEN'I" FORTI-1E SPEEDY DRYING OF' SMALL AMOUNTS OF LINEN FildMarOh 5, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet Il.`

TN VEN Tok HE/V R N555??- March 12 1v, f 1961 H.; `WEBER 2,975,529

ARRANGEMENT FORtTI-IE SPEEDYP'DRYINGOF" SMALL" AMOUNTS OF LINEN Filed Mafrfcrhv;L 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet" 2` INVENT:

March 21, 1961 H, WEBER 2,975,529

ARRANGEMENT FOR THE SPEEDY DRYING `OF SMLL `NIOUIILIS DF EL'INEN Y Filed March 5, 1958 3 .Sheets-Sheet '3 LWENM HENRI HEBER ARRANGEMENT FOR THE SPEEDY DRYING OF SMALL AlVIOUNTS OF LINEN Henri Weber, 55 Rue de Chateandun, Paris, France Filed Mar. 5, 1958, Ser. No.719,415 Claims priority, application France Mar. 8, 1957 Y '3 Claims. (Cl. 34-151) My invention has for its object an arrangement for the speedy drying of linen, which allows the housewife and also the traveller to rapidly dry small amounts of linen, chiey fine linen when required, for instance, whenever it is impossible to otherwise dry the linen because of inclement weather, or again when travelling.

Arrangements for this object are already known which consist of suspended casings through which hot air is caused to pass and which are made of an airtight mate-- rial. These known arrangements have however found no application in practice, because they are exceedingly bulky and are expensive and intricate by reason of the apparatus such as a motor driving a fan incorporated therewith for the production of a stream of hot air.

i Now, my invention contemplates using a casing through which hot air is caused to pass for rapidly drying small amounts of linen, chieily ne linen and which does not requireits own supply of heat and which may be connected with any suitable outer supply of hot air. Further, it may be folded into a structure the bulk of which is extremely small when it is not in use, so that it may readily be carried by travellers in their luggage.

The linen-drying arrangement according to my invention has for its chief feature that the closed casing adapted to be suspended and made of a yielding airtight material forms a bag which is not provided with any vertical reinforcements and includes merely an upper frame which serves simultaneously for securing the means suspending the casing and for carrying the clothes-hangers provided in the casing, and a lower frame cooperating with theupper frame to hold the bag open while means.

are provided for connection `with an outer supply of heat in. association with openings for the exhaust of the air which hasserved for the drying. The casing which is suspended in any desired manner is held open in a tensioned condition merely by the weight of the lower frame. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

the two frames holding the bag open are square, the

length of the side of the square being equal to one half the spacing between the upper and the lower frames holding the bag open, i.e. one'half the length of the casing. These" proportions permit collapsing of the two frames andfthe suhsequentfoldingof the latter over the intermediatewmaterial j constituting the Y.casing so as ,to

form therewith a bag which `may be carried by the crossed strings orthe like` serving for the Asuspension of the easing.` j

. 795er the connectiginof` the" casing `with an outer supply of hot, air, it is `of advantage, according to a further feature of my invention, to use a tubular projection provided preferablyinthe bottom of the casing and` made of a thin yielding material, said projection being fitted with an inner coil adapted to keep it in its open position. Said tubular projection may also be folded in an axial direction after which it is fitted in a pocket provided for this purpose by the partly double-walled structure of the casing bottom.

The nozzle forming the outer end of the tubular protent O 'ice 1 jection is formed, according to a further feature of the invention, by an elastic expansible ring made for instance of sponge rubber adapted to engage connections of different diameters in various conventional hot air generators such as the hot air supplies which are available everywhere for the drying of ones hair.

Further features and details of the invention will appear in the reading of the following description of a preferred embrdiment of my novel linen drier, reference being made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective illustration of the novel linen drier in its operative drying condition.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the drier with one wall in its open condition.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken through line IlI--III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates a detail of Fig. 3 on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken through line V-V of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 illustrates a modication of the detail shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a` cross-sectional view taken through line VII-VII of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the casing during its folding after use.

Fig. 9 shows the linen drier in its final folded pocketshaped condition.

Fig. 10 shows a detail of the arrangement including the tubular projection and the possibility also illustrated in Fig. 8 of its fitting inside a pocket formed in the bottom of the casing.

As apparent from Fig. l, my improved high-speed linen drier is constituted by a casing or envelope 1 of a material such as a sheet of synthetic material which is yielding and airtight, and having advantageously a prismatic shape.

This casing is held in its open condition during operation of the drier through the two stiifening frames 2 and 12 arranged at its upper and lower ends respectively for holding the casing open. To the upper frame 2 are secured suspension strings 3 crossing each other diagonally as illustrated, said strings passing through the eyelets 7 provided in the upper part of a side wall of the casing.

A sliding of the strings passing underneath the upper frame member 2 is prevented by elastic iittings 15 made for instance of rubber (see Figs. 5 and 6), the iittings 1S being provided each with a transverse cut through which the suspension strings are drawn. rihese fittings may be replaced by wire loops inserted in the corners of the frame 2 and engaging the suspension strings 3.

The suspension strings may also be made of a single part as illustrated in Figs. l, 8 and 9, so as to form two loops whereby it is possible to suspend the arrangement in any suitable manner to the ceiling or along a wall. These loops form also carrier means for the ilat bag formed in periods of non use by-the entire arrangement, as described hereinafter with further detail.

To the bottom of the elastically closed casing is connected `at 13 a tubular projection 14 made for instance of a sheet of synthetic material inside which is fitted an inner helicalmember Vadapted to keep the tubular projection in its;expanded condition, said helicalN member forming an Velastic nozgle17 adapted to expand so as to allow the connection ofthe` projection "with pipes andV tubes of varying diameters, such for instance as those Patented Mar. Z1, 1961- sweeps upwardly from theh tubular projection through thecasing andV out of it' throughsaidopenings.

No other rigid reinforcing members are provided between the frame members 2. and 12.

The frame 2l carries atransversemember'aerossitsl pended to the upper frame 2 by means of Ystraps 9. The" straps 9 extend along the inner lateral walls of.the"casing.. In this case, the arms ofthe intermediate.' frameV Slengage loops formed at the ends of the.straps.

In the embodiment accordingr to Figs." 6Y andi 7, thev straps 9a are secured to the inner surfaceofthe-.side walls of the casing in a manner such that they formgaps" with said side walls. In this case, the arms ofthe intermediate frame engage corresponding, slots 9bV in the straps. 4

It is also possible to execute the upper sections ofthe side Walls of the casing as a double-walled section and,

in this case, the straps may be. cut out and the intermediate frame would be secured in asimilar manner tthe innerpart of the double wall.

Over the arms of the intermediate frame arearranged, in parallelism with the rear wall of the casing, a plurality `of`transverse rods 11 adapted to be shiftedtover or.lifted off the said arms ofthe intermediate frame.

of the casing, or. `are removed, theA entire space inside the casing is free to receive the longer pieces oflinencarried by the clothes-hangers 5. Due to the` fact that the intermediate frame is in the shape ofa U, i.e. that it is open towards the front, the inside of. the casing is easily accessible when it is opened through operation of.

the slide or Zip fastener provided for this purpose and which is advantageouslymadelof synthetic material, said fastenerl subdividing the front wall of thev casing along itsvertical line of symmetry.

After operation of the slidefastener through the usual lug 20, the lateral wall sections areeasily separated from each other after the manner of a curtain' as illustrated in Y Fig. 2, so'that the inside of the casing is-readily accessible. A tlap 19 of the upper cover of the. casing conceals the upper edge of said curtain wall.

As illustrated in Figs. 8 to l0, the tubular. projection 14 'is inserted, when the linen drieris in its'inoperative folded condition, inside a pocket 21 formed by a doublewalled section of the bottom of the casin'g.

Figs. 8 and 9 show how the linen drier according to'.

the invention may be advantageously folded so as to form a bag-shaped package the size of which is noY larger than that of a brief-case, While obviouslyV after the preliminary removal of the intermediate frame, if p any, the upper and the lower frames are iirst folded over the adjacent part of thecasingand'the two frames are then folded directly over Veach other Is'o thatrafter obtaining the position according to Fig.8, a-bag according to; Fig. 9, is formed and may be-carried through the agency of the suspension strings-3. Y Y v The invention allows obtaining,V as` disclosedy hereinafter, an arrangement forrthe speedy drying of smallV amounts of linen and, in particular, ladies linen, stockings, diapers andthe like, and also and chiey so-called When allV these transverse rods' are. shifted towardsthe. rear Wall.

nylon shirts and the like now preferred by men, said drierbeing easily carried with ones-luggage without requiring its own supply of heat and being readily connected with any desired external supply of heat such as a hot air jet producer.

Obviously, my invention is by no means limited to the embodiments disclosed and. many modications may be proposed within-the scope of the accompanying claims. Thus, the arrangement of the input and output ports for the hot air may be different from that disclosed and illustrated by way ofexample.

What I claim is:

1. A linen drier for the speedy drying of small amounts Y of linen, comprising a vcasing ofi yielding airtightlmaterial including a top, a partly double-walled bottom provided with an outer slot to form an outwardly opening pocket and sidewalls between the top and the bottom, one of said sidewalls being provided with aeration ports in its upper part, two similar rigid at frames tted' respectively-across theupper ends andV across the lower ends of theside-AV walls of the casing to hold it in its open condition, means attached to the upper frame for suspending-the casingto anouter point, a tubular projection carriedV on the out side of the bottom-of the casing adaptedto bey fed-with hot air and including a thin cylindrical-walloffyielding material opening inside saidcasing bottom anda rigid helical axially collapsible member 'tted inside said thin wall, said tubular projection and helical member contained therein being collapsible' within the pocket-in the bottom of the casing.

2i A linen drier in accordanee'with claim l; including a U-shaped intermediate frame including a bottom and.l

two lateral armsadapted to'be tted inside saidcasing in contact with'thewalls thereof at a location between said' two frames, and transverse bars shiftable overthe arms` of'said intermediate frame and adapted to carry linen to f upper ends and across the lower ends 0f the sidewallsof the casing to hold it in its open condition, meansattached to the-upper frame for suspending the casing toV an outer point, a U-shaped intermediate frame includingV a bottom andtwo lateral arms adapted to be fitted inside thecasing incontact with the walls thereof at a location between said two frames,V the said arms of the interme- Y diate frame engaging the cuts inthe inner surface of. the doublesidewall of the casing, Vtransverse bars.shiftable over the arms of said intermediate frame and adaptedto carry linen to be dried, means operatively connecting the.y

inside of the casing` with an external supply ofhot air and means for exhausting'theY hot airv out-of theupper end vof the casing.

References Cited in thertile of this patenti Y UNITED STATES PATENTSl 1,375,883 4 Woolson ,Q Apr. 26, 1921 2,575,841 fRosli a Nov. 20, 1951 2,594,569 Levitt Apr.-29, 19,52 2,597,215 Wright etal May 20, 1952 2,701,921 Strongson Feb. 15,1955 2,705,377 Y (Konstandt Apr. 5; 1955 Y FOREIGN PATENTS 1,049,105

France -a--.'.. r1an; 14, 1952V 

